She reached out to me with her thrall, soft tentacles massaging and probing my psyche, softening my will to whatever she might suggest. I mentally reinforced my defenses.
“I’m stressed,” I admitted. “The Grigori are coming, and I have nothing to present for my talent portion of the competition. And I spend way too much time trying to convince you not to murder your servants.” I glared at her, our most recent argument over dinner still fresh on my mind. “So, not great.”
“You’re funny,” she said as though it were a revelation.
I rolled my eyes. “Like you’d even notice.”
“I notice. I used to have a sense of humor.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I used to be… carefree. Fun, even.”
I was skeptical. Those were not words I’d ever use to describe her, even before she betrayed me. “Well, what the hell happened?”
“Life. It’s not easy being beautiful and powerful and a woman. Like our matron.” She kissed her medallion, similar to how I kissed my gold cross when I prayed for Papa’s safety. “Many of the gods felt threatened by Medusa, rightly so. I’ve told you stories about her exploits.”
I nodded, recalling just the other day when you’d mentioned her as well.
“When the angels saw the gifts that were bestowed upon my sister and I, they realized they could use us to further their own agendas—seducing powerful people, making kings of men, expanding empires and toppling them…” She smiled ruefully, perhaps remembering some calamity she’d incited.
“Lilith was far more willing to be exploited in this way. She enjoyed the game of seduction. Enjoyed bedding men, being used by them, being hurt, sometimes badly. But I… did not.” Mater tilted her head, thoughtful for a moment. “I should say, I didn’t enjoy doing those things for the benefit of others. Sacrificing myself for unrelenting, unappreciative masters. Whatever rewards I reaped, I wanted for myself. They called me immoral for wanting to shape my own destiny. So much judgement from a master to their slave.”
Mater’s eyes turned flinty as her gaze passed over you. “The angels on high wouldn’t allow me to harness my abilities for my own purposes or have any agency of my own. So, I decided that if I couldn’t control who had access to my bloodborn body, then I could at least make sure my most immediate needs were met. I had a terrific appetite, and those men—if you could even call them that—were wicked. Right down to the marrow in their bones.”
Mater licked her lips. Human bone marrow was a delicacy to us bloodborn and one I was content to never try. Like pâté.
“If you’re trying to convince me that murdering your bath attendants is okay, the answer is still no,” I said.
She smiled, in a rare good mood. “I have built my empire, only to have it torn from my very womb. I’ve been forced to pledge my own children to a hostile enemy. I have endured horrors you can only imagine, Vincent. I have been betrayed, time and again, by the Angel of Death. And while I know it was unpleasant for you to experience his cruelty firsthand, it was a necessary lesson for you to learn. Because you, my son, were soft. Raised by humans, coddled by Henri your entire life, never wanting for anything, never having to compromise your scruples in order to survive.”
“And now?” I asked, only a little moved by her speech.
“Now, I see the same hatred and passion burning in your eyes that I recognize in myself. A willingness to sacrifice what’s most precious to you. And a thirst for vengeance that will only be quenched by the blood of Azrael.”
“Does he even bleed?”
“To make him bleed is to take away everything he has spent the past two millennia stealing for himself. To strip him of his power, his army, and render him worthless in the eyes of the Order. We will seize his very soul.” Her fingers clenched as if holding his heart in her hand. That bloodthirsty fervor was in her eyes, and it was contagious.
“You think you can do it?”
“I thinkwecan do it.”
“We?What about all the enemies you’ve made? You don’t have the best reputation for being a team player.”
“That’s where you come in. You are innocent and deceptively unassuming.”
“I’m also twenty years old.”
“And you’re sunborn,” she said, ignoring my argument. “That won’t go unnoticed among the tribes.”
I thought then of a way I could use it to my own advantage. “I think we should distance ourselves from each other. After the initial ceremonies, I should be presented as sunborn.”
“Risky,” Mater said. “The Grigori might wish to snuff you out straightaway, if only to avoid the messy treaty and land disputes.”
“They’d have to go through Henri.” I paused. “And you too, right?”
“Certainly,” she said, not quite convincing me of her loyalty.
